Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding porcine cysticercosis control among smallholder pig farmers in Kongwa and Songwe districts, Tanzania: A cross-sectional study.

Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis (TSTC) is a parasitic zoonotic disease that is endemic in several developing countries, causing serious public health and economic impacts. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) related to porcine cysticercosis (PCC) transmission, prevention and control among smallholder pig farmers in Kongwa and Songwe Districts in Tanzania. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 692 smallholder pig farmers from randomly selected households. STATA software version 17 was used to analyse quantitative data, summarize farmers' KAP about PCC and calculate performance scores. Nearly half (42%) of the respondents had little knowledge regarding PCC, only 17% of the respondents had good practices towards prevention/control of PCC and 72% had a positive attitude towards PCC- prevention/control measures. The majority (73%) of smallholder pig farmers admitted deworming their pigs regularly, whereas 76% reported deworming themselves and their family members regularly. Albendazole and ivermectin are the most commonly used medications for deworming people and pigs, respectively. According to the findings, the majority of smallholder pig farmers in Kongwa and Songwe Districts showed a good attitude towards PCC prevention/control measures but had limited knowledge of the PCC life cycle and control. In addition, only one in five farmers was engaged in good practices. The findings revealed further that farmers are engaged in risky behaviours that aid the spread and perpetuation of the T. solium parasite in the study area. It is recommended that farmers should be given proper health education on the T. solium transmission cycle and preventive/control practices to limit PCC transmission.

Comparative effects of captopril and nifedipine on diastolic and systolic cardiac function in elderly hypertensive patients.

Both nifedipine and captopril are effective in the treatment of systemic hypertension in the elderly, but their effects on cardiac function in this age group have not been evaluated. We studied the effects of acute oral administration of 20 mg nifedipine and 12.5 mg captopril on systolic and diastolic cardiac function, as evaluated by a radionuclide method, in 14 elderly hypertensives, mean age 73.4 +/- 3.9 years. The radionuclide studies were performed 1 h after ingestion of nifedipine and 1.5 h after captopril, on separate days. Nifedipine accelerated the heart rate whereas captopril slowed it. Nifedipine increased the ejection fraction by 2.6 +/- 14.6% but captopril increased it by 13 +/- 15.3%. Nifedipine reduced the left ventricular peak ejection rate by 4.8 +/- 21.7% whereas captopril increased it by 18 +/- 24.3%. Nifedipine increased the peak filling rate by 14.3 +/- 41.6% and captopril increased it by 27.6 +/- 32.6%. Nifedipine reduced the time to peak filling rate by 24.9 +/- 27.0%, but captopril reduced it by 68.8 +/- 59.6%. All these differences were statistically significant. Therefore, captopril improves some diastolic and systolic parameters of cardiac function more than nifedipine does. Other parameters are impaired by nifedipine but improved by captopril.